Bethany of Sweet Georgia Sweet celebrated her newly adopted son, Walker, with a {Monogram & Elephant} Preppy “Baby” Dedication Party that just melts my heart! From the adorable fringe banners by The Purple Pug to the darling Oreo toppers by Love & Sugar Kisses there is so much craft, thought and love in this beautiful occasion. Congrats to the happy family!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Blue Mason Jars wrapped in Polka Dot and Stripe Ribbon
• Monogram Cookies, Homemade Push Cakes and a Blue & White Striped Cake
• Monogram Water Bottle Labels & Twine Tied Milk Bottles
• DIY Ribbon Topiary + Garland and Jumbo Confetti Filled Balloons with Decorative Tassels

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Bethany…

For my son’s “Baby” Dedication Party, I knew I wanted to use the navy & aqua color scheme, but that’s all I knew.  I knew we needed more than just a color scheme, but I was at a loss of what to do.

We are a bit of a non-traditional family, in that, we traveled to Africa to bring our son home.  He was 5 when we adopted him, & he has since turned 6, learned English, & completed K4 & K5 (in just one short year.)  He is our little miracle!  I wanted to include his preferences & likes as much as possible in the party.  Since he is old enough to tell me his likes & dislikes, I went to the source!  We chose to use his favorite animal, the elephant, and incorporate that into our existing color scheme.  He was a very active part of the party planning & prepping, & he had a blast!

DESSERT & DRINK TABLE

We decided to have our son’s dedication in the middle of the afternoon so that we could serve a variety of sweet, yummy snacks to our family & close friends.  We served Walker’s favorite vanilla cake, cookies, chocolate-covered Oreos, push-up pops, & white chocolate dipped marshmallows.  To balance out all the sugar, we also served pretzels & popcorn.  Nicole of One Crazy Cookie made the cookies to match our invitation perfectly; she even perfectly matched the font on the invitation!  Maria of Love & Sugar Kisses also matched the invitation and made the preppiest, little fondant-covered Oreos with elephants, stripes, & Walker’s monogram.

My sister & I made the push-up pops using simple, no hassle ingredients.  We put our favorite store bought sugar cookie dough into mini muffin pans, & baked until done.  Once cooled, we layered the cookies with piped, store bought vanilla icing.  The kids & adults alike loved them!

For drinks, we kept it simple by serving milk and water.  We used milk bottles which I tied with navy blue & white twine.  We also had aqua blue Mason glass jars, which I wrapped in navy and white striped and polka dot ribbon.

INVITATION

I wanted to create the feel of love and family, and since I was unable to find an invitation for an older child’s “baby” dedication, I ended up creating the invitation myself.  I used a mixture of stripes and polka dots in the navy blue and aqua color scheme, and being the Southern belle that I am, I simply had to include his monogram.  However, the focal point of the invitation was a sweet, little elephant family graphic; Mommy, Daddy, & Baby – all holding each other’s tails & walking together.  It was precious!  It was us!

DECOR

I also knew that I wanted to create a somewhat preppy feel to match the attitude of my little 6 year old!  He loves getting dressed up and wearing bow ties, so I wanted to play into the style he is already developing.  I decided to go with lots of bold, navy and white stripes, and sprinkle in a few polka dots here and there.  I thought it might be challenging to pull off these colors and patterns without it looking “nautical”, but it all came together beautifully.  Jaclyn of Peckled created the most beautiful paper pinwheels which I used to pop against the ribbon garland on the dessert table.  I created a set of topiaries & ribbon garland to match the preppy, party vibe.  I also designed a new kind of hand-tied garland which I used on the dessert table’s backdrop.  The backdrop also featured a custom name banner made with love and glitter by The Purple Pug.

For the drink station, we used monogrammed medallions designed by Kristin of Stampin’ Fanatic; she was even able to match the font from the monogram on the invitation.  The drink station also featured a custom, hand-glittered elephant family banner from The Purple Pug.  I also chose to use an inexpensive thick, white frame to display the party invitation; making it a party of the party decor really helped bring it all together.

Inspired by our glittery banners from The Purple Pug, Walker & I also decided to add just a touch more glitter to the party.  Using Modge Podge & glitter, we glittered the tips of the wooden party forks & a large “W” which we used at the drink station.

We also wanted to tie in a little bit of something meaningful into the decor, so we borrowed an antique blue Mason jar from my mother-in-law to display fresh hydrangeas.

When everything was all decorated for the party, I brought Walker into the room to have a look.  He covered his mouth with both little hands and just stood there looking all around before exclaiming, “Mommy, it’s beautiful.  I love it!”